updated 05:09 pm EDT, Thu May 23, 2013

Low-cost phone said to be going into mass production in July

A new Macotakara report claims to have learned details about several upcoming Apple products, beginning with the rumored low-cost iPhone. The site says it has heard conflicting views from two sources on colors; one alleges that the phone will come in navy, white, gray, and gold orange tones, while another mentions white, pink, green, blue, and yellow orange. In both cases, black is omitted.

The device is expected to go into test production in June, and shift into full production in July, with the aim of a September launch. While more consistent with other rumors, it does conflict with previous Macotakara suggestions that the phone would only arrive in 2014.

Regarding the iPhone 5S, the site says that it will also come in several colors. Aside from the standard black and white, it may also come in gold and green. Otherwise external design will reportedly be similar to the iPhone 5, but with a dual-LED flash, and a circular rear microphone instead of a pill-shaped one, placed between the camera lens and the flash.

The fifth-generation iPad, meanwhile, is predicted to have a hole for an additional microphone. That sort of hole has appeared in prototype cases for the iPad mini and the fifth-gen iPad, but isn't reflected in the shipping Mini hardware.